The Clock Face
by AprilFlowers96
Summary: Rose, Albus, and Scorpius come across a pocket watch that ticks at an annoyingly loud volume. After they open it for the first time, they find themselves in the completely wrong place... or rather, the wrong time. Slowly the watch brings more people back in time to join them, and they are forced to enlist some help to get them all back home.
1. The Library

**Usual disclaimer: HP is not owned by me. I'm just a fan writing about what I love.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>  
><strong>The Library<strong>

This was important. They were never going to pass if they didn't get this done. At the rate they were going, it would not be done in time. It was due in mere days; a project that they were given enough time to complete, honestly, they just never began until the day before. Now it was down to the wire.

"Will you two shut it?" snapped Rose Weasley at her companions, "We have work to do, you know."

The one across from her, who happened to be her cousin Albus, rolled his eyes. "Rosie, we've still got two days to finish this. We just have to write it up. Relax."

"Yeah," added the other boy as he pushed his blond hair from his forehead, "We've got loads of time."

"What are you even talking about?" the redhead asked, dropping her quill in defeat.

Albus laced his fingers together and stared at his cousin straight in the eye. "We're discussing the Tutshill Tornados' nasty bout of cheating at the League Cup," he said, "I think they're all a bunch of scoundrels, while my colleague Scorpius-"

"I've been reduced to a colleague, have I?"

"-thinks they won fairly. Your thoughts?"

Rose narrowed her blue eyes and looked between them. "You were talking about a match that happened months ago instead of doing our Charms project?" she asked slowly.

"We'll go back to doing it _if_ you give us a verdict." said Scorpius, raising his eyebrows.

She sighed and rubbed her temple. "The Tornados won fairly."

Scorpius pumped his fist in victory while Albus stared at her. "I am disappointed in you, Rosie. As a Quidditch player and my new best friend, I thought for sure you would know what you were talking about."

"That's low, Al." said the other Slytherin, crossing his arms.

Rose shook her head and picked up her quill again hopefully. "Can we get this done now, please?" she said.

Albus slumped in his chair and groaned melodramatically. "This is making my brain melt." he complained.

"Why don't we study for the Divination exam instead?" Scorpius suggested, "That way we'll be working and getting a good laugh at the same time."

"Fine," said Rose begrudgingly. Plus, she thought Divination was quite interesting while the boys couldn't take it seriously.

As they put away their Charms things and got out Divination, Albus smoothed out one of his charts importantly, looking at it carefully. "So, Scorpius, when will Uranus be back in view?"

"I don't know, Al," he replied thoughtfully, "Why don't we ask Rose?" He turned to their Gryffindor companion, and winked salaciously.

Rose's cheeks burned while she glowered at the both of them. "You're so funny. Why don't you ask a book instead?" she snapped.

"Why do you have to suck the fun out of everything?" Albus retorted, "Fun-sucker."

Scorpius sighed and stood up. "Come on, Rose, I'll help you find a book." The two of them headed for the Divination section while Albus whisper-shouted _"killjoys"_ at their backs.

Rose went to work on reading book spines while Scorpius leaned on the shelf beside her. "You know we're just playing around." he told her quietly.

"I know, I know," she sighed, "The end of term is just stressing me out to no end."

"I understand that. We have a million exams to revise for and then we'll be seventh years in a matter of months," he said, watching her pick numerous books off the shelf and then put them back again, "Weird, right?"

"Super weird," she agreed. Then she huffed. "How hard is it to find a book on planetary alignment?"

Scorpius shrugged. Rose left for a few moments and then came back wheeling a ladder over so she could reach the high shelves. She climbed to the topmost shelves and started scanning titles when she heard a very loud and obvious clock ticking. She made a confused face as she looked around for the source of the ticking, the sound unfamiliar in this setting.

"What is that noise?" said Scorpius, looking up the ladder curiously.

Rose looked down. "You hear it too?" When he nodded, she went back to searching. She climbed further up the ladder until there were no more rungs, so she could reach the very top of the bookcase. She started to run her hand along it to find the lost clock, but for a bit all she got was a hand full of dust. After a round of sneezing, she felt something round and smooth under her hand. When she pulled it down she found it was a pocket watch on a long gold chain. It was ticking loudly, and the front face had a strange symbol on it.

"What's that?" she heard Albus's voice say from the floor. Scorpius must have brought him over to see if he could hear the ticking too.

Rose climbed down the ladder and showed the boys the watch. Scorpius cringed at how loud it ticked, but it didn't seem to be bothering anyone else. "Where did you find that?" he asked, looking down at the watch.

"It was at the top of the bookcase," she said, running her finger over the surface, "I wonder how it got up there."

"And why it makes so much noise." said Albus, scrunching his nose.

Rose bit her lip and pressed down on the latch to open it. As soon as she did, a huge gust of wind swirled around the library. It swept up all of their cloaks and sent Rose's hair whipping around her face. It took them all a moment to realize what was happening, but when it registered, the wind stopped all at once.

The three of them exchanged looks as their cloaks settled again and Rose patted her curls back down. They looked around carefully. They were still in the library, and there were still students milling around. Rose shifted her gaze down to the watch in her palm.

"What just happened?" asked Albus.

Scorpius shrugged while Rose stared down at the watch. "Whatever it was, it had to do with this," she said, snapping it closed again. She couldn't help but notice that it had stopped ticking so loudly. In fact, they could hardly hear it making noise at all.

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><p><strong>I'm actually really excited to try and get back into writing about the next generation. They all hold a special place in my heart. I had no ideas for a lead up to this, so we're diving right into it. The characters will be based on those in the Twitter RPG I run called The Legacy. Basically, I had to get them and this idea out there. <strong>


	2. It Doesn't Snow in June

****Usual disclaimer: HP is not owned by me. I'm just a fan writing about what I love.****

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>  
><strong>It Doesn't Snow in June<strong>

As Rose put the watch in her pocket, Scorpius shook his head in confusion. Albus made a face. "You're going to keep it?" he said, pointing at her pocket.

"What else should I do with it?" said Rose, "Put it back? It obviously didn't belong there anyway. Besides, I'm curious to see what it does, and I want to look at it more closely."

"Let's just go back to studying," Scorpius suggested, starting to head back to their table. The other two exchanged a look and followed him, honestly unsure what else to do. When they reached their table, however, it was bare. Their bags, books, and supplies were all gone.

"Those tossers," said Albus, annoyed, "we were gone for like five minutes. There are plenty tables, why would someone need to steal ours and then _not_ use it?"

Rose glanced around to try and find who had moved their things when her eyes fell on a blond girl who looked strangely like Luna Scamander. She did a double take and stared openly as the girl checked out a book and then skipped out of the library. Rose blinked and looked back at Albus and Scorpius, who were watching her curiously.

"Alright?" asked Albus skeptically.

"I thought I just saw…" she trailed off and looked at the doorway again, "nevermind."

"Okay, then. Well, we still have to find our things," he continued, ducking under the table to look.

"I don't think our stuff is here," said Scorpius cryptically.

The cousins looked at him strangely. "Why?" asked Rose, her mind racing back to the watch episode. Scorpius pointed behind her.

"Look."

She spun around and her mouth dropped open. Outside the row of windows were the Hogwarts grounds, but they looked different than they did several minutes ago. Now they were obviously sopping wet while snow peppered the ground and melted into the grass. It had not been that way before they found the watch.

"It's snowing," said Rose absently.

"It doesn't snow in June," added Scorpius tensely.

Rose approached a window first and put her hand to it before pulling it back as if she had never felt cold before. Her mind churned over a million things at the same time. Her other hand moved down to her pocket, touching the watch that still sat there. She didn't know how, but this was not right.

"Keen observations, you two," said Albus as he sidled up next to his cousin, "but really, _what happened here?"_

She shook her head. "I have no idea… but we can't rule anything out yet."

"Well, how about we leave here and see if we can't find anything else out of the ordinary." said Scorpius.

Albus clapped his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Always the voice of reason, Scorp," he said decidedly, "Let's do that."

At a loss for any better ideas, Rose nodded in agreement and followed them out of the library. They looked around carefully. The corridors looked as they always did, lined with portraits and tapestries and full of students. Although everything seemed perfectly normal, there was something that didn't quite feel right. Rose had the odd sensation that she didn't belong. She shoved her hands in her pockets and continued anyway.

Then, at about the same time, they all saw the bright pink blur round the corner and start walking right towards them. All three stopped right in the middle of the corridor, because they knew who that was, but they couldn't believe it.

"What do we do?" said Albus in panic.

Scorpius quickly straightened his robes and said, "Act natural." before continuing on his way. Rose and Albus did the same and quickly moved to catch up with him.

As she got closer, it was easy to see that the woman wearing bright pink was in fact Dolores Umbridge. It was obvious that students went out of their way to avoid her. Some groups that had been walking together split up so they wouldn't have to pick which side of her to walk on right away. Rose couldn't help but worry that once she fixed her beady eyes on the likes of them, Umbridge would be able to tell that they didn't belong there.

However, what did happen was much different. When Umbridge did see them, she put on a nasty smile and headed right over. When she was close enough, she made it a point to stand in between Rose and Scorpius, effectively cutting Rose out of the conversation as she ended up standing behind her. Rose was obviously not invited.

"Good afternoon, boys," Umbridge said pleasantly.

They looked at Rose, confused. Rose nodded towards her and mouthed the word _professor_.

"Good afternoon, professor." said Scorpius smoothly.

"I'm not sure if everyone has heard yet, but I'm having a meeting tomorrow evening for all of those who want to join the Inquisitorial Squad," said Umbridge in a sickly sweet voice that made Rose want to smack her even more, "I would love for you two to join. You look like such nice boys, and I know you'd both love extra credit."

"Oh," Albus piped up in a voice that was a little higher than usual. He cleared his throat quickly. "Thank you, Professor Umbridge. We will definitely be there."

"Lovely." she said and nodded in farewell to the two of them. She turned briefly to Rose, made a little _humph_ sound, and continued down the corridor.

None of them spoke until she had disappeared into a classroom. "That was rude," Rose commented, looking bewildered.

"But now we have to join the Inquisitorial Squad or she'll use her mental blood quills on us," said Albus, wringing his hands, "my dad still has a scar."

"Obviously she favors the Slytherins, because I wasn't invited," she said, crossing her arms.

"Doesn't matter," said Scorpius, "but I think I know what's happened now."

Rose nodded. "I do too."

"The clock brought us back in time," said Scorpius in a low voice.

"The time when Umbridge was a professor," agreed Rose.

"Which would be around '95," Albus added.

"Right before the war started," Scorpius finished.

Rose rubbed her temples and moved to sit on a nearby bench. "What are we going to do? The watch brought us here with no devices-"

"Maybe it can take us back," Albus suggested. Rose pulled it from her pocket and handed it to him.

"Alright, what did you do last time?"

"All I did was open it."

Albus pressed down on the latch and watched as it sprung open, revealing the clock face. Nothing happened. All it did was tick softly and display the time like a normal watch.

Albus closed it angrily. "If this thing only had one good wind gust in it, we're done for."

"We can't stay here," said Rose.

"Where else are we going to go," said Albus, "All we've got are Hogwarts robes, an enchanted pocket watch, and our wands." Then he smacked his forehead. "Which is in my bag. I'm a goner."

Scorpius crossed his arms. "We'll have to blend in until we figure out how to get home," he said simply.

"Blend in," Rose laughed, "With you two, carbon copies of your dads?"

The boys exchanged a look. Albus reached up to take his glasses off while Scorpius mussed up his hair. "Do I look different?" he asked.

"Not at all," said Rose with a little grin, "but good try."

"Hang on," said Albus, his glasses still in his hand, "do you mean blend in like go to lessons, do homework, and be students?"

Scorpius nodded and Albus pretended to puke. "Well, what else are we going to do? Hide in the dungeons for all of our days?" said the blond.

"But we can't just show up to lessons. We don't know when sixth year classes are, and all the professors save Umbridge have been working here for years. They would all know us by now, like when our professors." said Albus.

"Dammit," sighed Rose, frustration blooming on her face.

"Maybe we should find our parents…" said Albus quietly.

"No," said Rose sharply, "We have to avoid our parents at all costs. They can't know we're here."

"They're not going to recognize us," he said.

"No, not now," she said, rolling her eyes, "but they'll be very confused in the future as to why their kids look so familiar. It'll just cause a load of problems for us. Bad things happen to wizards who meddle with time."

"It's not our fault the bloody watch won't take us back!" said Albus, exasperated. He plopped himself on the bench next to Rose and dropped the offending thing into her lap.

A bell sounded through the corridor. Obviously it was class time. Rose got to her feet. "Come on. I'd rather not be caught here if we shouldn't be," she said, getting to her feet, "Who knows if sixth years have a break right now."

She started down the corridor, and the boys easily caught up with her. "Where are we going now, since we're avoiding the inevitable?" asked Scorpius. Rose glared at him briefly.

"The Slytherin common room," she replied, "You two are going to find out what day it is."

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><p><strong>AN: So guys, I'm strapped. How should our main characters here stumbleupon our favorite Golden Trio? Any ideas? Let me know in a review!<strong>


	3. Early November

****Usual disclaimer: HP is not owned by me. I'm just a fan writing about what I love.****

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>  
><strong>Early November<strong>

So the three of them continued down to the Slytherin common room, following the familiar path they were so used to from being at school. It hadn't changed at all between this period in time and their own, so the hard part was not finding it, but getting inside.

"We don't know the password, we're never going to get in," said Scorpius.

"Sure you will," Rose countered, "We just have to wait for someone else to come open the passage. Unfortunately, I think we have all the time in the world."

And then they sat against the wall. They were silent for a bit before Albus spoke up. "Why did this happen to us?"

Rose chuckled mirthlessly. "Who else _would_ it happen to, though? It's like we're destined to attract trouble."

"I guess that explains why I had to get involved," muttered Scorpius.

"You were involved the day you sat next to me on the train, you cheese ball," said Rose, shoving his shoulder gently.

"You should have known you would be roped into our crazy," added Albus.

Scorpius chuckled. "I kind of did. Now I know what I've gotten myself into. _Especially_ now." he said.

The three of them started to laugh a bit when two students appeared at the other end of the corridor. Albus jumped up. "Someone's coming!"

They all got to their feet and tried not to look suspicious as two Slytherin boys muttered something ad stepped into a sudden opening in the wall. Albus and Scorpius hurried to go in before it closed, the latter adding "Wait here" to Rose before he disappeared.

The lone Gryffindor let out a breath before she leaned against the wall. She was nervous to be on her own, even though this Hogwarts was almost exactly the same as the one she was used to. Although she blended in just fine, she was still worried someone would be able to tell that she didn't belong there.

Rose's hand drifted down to her pocket where the pocket watch still was. She pulled it out and held it in her palm, studying for a few moments. All it really was just a watch made out of tarnished gold with a funny symbol on the front. The symbol was confusing. If it was Runic, Scorpius would have been able to read it, he loved Ancient Runes. And it wasn't anything Rose or Albus knew about, apparently. _Stupid thing_, Rose thought, opening it once again. It ticked softly, innocently. She wished she knew more about it and how to get them home; she was the one who found it, after all. She thought it her responsibility to figure it out.

"What are you doing down here?"

The voice startled Rose so suddenly that she snapped the watch shut and spun around, hiding it behind her back. Her heart hammered even harder when she noticed who had spoken to her: Draco Malfoy, who looked not a day older than fifteen.

Rose didn't know what to say. She had hardly said a few words to Mr. Malfoy the two times she met him as Scorpius's father. Now, he was her age, and she was even more tongue-tied.

"I er, I was just…" she stuttered while he stared at her as if she were daft.

Then the passage to the Slytherin common room opened and Scorpius came out first. "Okay, so-" he cut himself off when he noticed Rose's company, "Oh."

"What is the hold up?" said Albus before he squeezed out past Scorpius. Then his eyes widened, but he stayed silent.

Draco looked between the three of them, obviously growing more confused, especially at the sight of Scorpius. "What is going on here, and who are you?" he said, pointing at Albus and Scorpius.

The blond stepped forward and quickly shook Draco's hand. "Rigel Rosier, lovely to see you again, Malfoy. Not that we've said more than two words to each other since Christmas," he said easily while Rose and Albus stared at him, "Anyway, this is my Potions group. We're about to go do a project, and she was waiting for us."

The cousins exchanged a look while Draco nodded as if he understood, although they all knew that Rigel Rosier didn't actually exist.

"Right then," said Draco, nodding his head.

"See you," said Scorpius quickly, taking a stunned Albus by the arm and pulling him away while Rose hurried after them.

Once they were away from the Slytherin common room, he clapped Scorpius on the shoulder. "That was brilliant, mate! How did you come up with that?"

"Yeah, who's Rigel Rosier?" asked Rose.

Scorpius shrugged, grinning. "I'm used to telling stories to my father's face; the younger version didn't deter me." he said, "And Rigel Rosier is no one. Rigel was the name my father wanted to give me before my mother won out, and Rosier is a dead pureblood family. There are still Christmas balls at this point in time for purebloods, and there are so many guests at each one, it's to believe that he forgot one."

"Wicked," said Albus quietly.

"So," Rose prompted, "what day is it, then?"

"Oh, it's the first of November," said Scorpius, "How particular, right?"

Rose thought for a few moments. "Did anything important happen on the first of November?" she asked Albus.

"I don't think so," he replied, "I know Granddad got bit by a snake this year, sometime before Christmas."

"There's got to be something before that," said Rose thoughtfully. She sighed. "Come on, let's go to the Room of Requirement. No one will find us there."

As they climbed the stairs, Scorpius looked confused. "The what?"

"Old family secret, Scorp," said Albus, "You'll see."

When they reached the seventh floor, after much huffing and puffing, Rose and Albus led the way to the Room, watching their surroundings carefully. When they reached the stretch of corridor in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, they stopped.

"Walk by three times, quickly," said Rose.

"And think of somewhere to stay," added Albus.

They all did so, and after the third time they passed, a door had appeared where the wall used to be. Scorpius raised his eyebrows in surprise. Albus went over and pushed the door open, ushering the others inside before closing it behind him. He turned and remarked first on the room. "Wow."

It was lit with flickering torches, and there were large cushions all over the floor instead of chairs. The walls were lined with bookcases, which Rose gravitated towards. "Hogwarts wants us to hide in style," she said.

So the three of them made themselves at home. They didn't know how long they were in there before they discovered food had appeared on the front table, which was also covered in Sneakoscopes. After that they continued to explore the room and contemplate ways to get home, even looking through the books provided. Then the door started to creak as if it were opening.

"Someone's coming," Rose panicked, cramming the book she had been reading back on the shelf.

"Come on!" said Scorpius, crouching in the space between a bookshelf and the wall.

Albus held in a sneeze as the dust from the back of the bookcase rained down on them. "Some hiding place."

The three of them peered through the spaces between books. When the door opened, fifteen-year-old Harry Potter entered the room, followed by Hermione and Ron. "It had to be them," Albus whispered.

"Early November, of course," Rose muttered, mentally kicking herself, "It's the D.A., it's their first meeting."

"Oh, great," Scorpius whispered.

"Should we make a break for it?" said Rose.

"No, they'll catch us," whispered Albus as Hermione approached the bookshelf.

"We'll have to wait it out," Scorpius said. They all tried to get as comfortable as they could. They would probably be there for a while.


	4. Dumbledore's Army

******Usual disclaimer: HP is not owned by me. I'm just a fan writing about what I love. Direct quotes from _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix _were written by and are property of JK Rowling. ******

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>  
><strong>Dumbledore's Army<strong>

"Harry, this is wonderful, there's everything we need here!"

The trio hiding behind the bookcase remained as quiet as they could as Hermione pulled a book from above Scorpius's head and placed herself on a cushion.

"Hey, look," said Albus, pointing towards the door. It was open again, and more people were coming inside after carefully knocking on the door. Two of them were easily recognizable: Ginny Potter, or Weasley at this point, and Neville Longbottom. The other three were only vaguely familiar.

"Whoa," said the tall black boy, "What is this place?"

As Harry began to explain, the three of them watched as other began to filter in. It was strange how many they could name. Luna walked in with a couple other Ravenclaws, looking dreamy as usual. Hannah Abbott and her friend Ernie, as well as a group of Hufflepuffs entered as well. Angelina Johnson arrived too, followed by a pair of identical twins.

Rose covered her mouth with her hands to hide the gasp as Albus stared at her, stunned. "Uncle Fred," he muttered. She nodded. It wasn't every day they got to see their dear uncle in the flesh, and they weren't really sure how to react.

Soon, all the cushions had someone sitting on them, and they were all looking towards Harry expectantly. He did not look comfortable with all the attention.

"Well," said Harry, "This is the place we've found for practices, and you've –er- obviously found it okay-"

"He's even more awkward than I expected," sighed Albus before Rose shoved him.

"Shush!" she hissed while Albus collided with Scorpius, sending them both off balance for a few moments.

"Merlin's trousers, Rose!" wheezed Scorpius as he pushed the other boy off of him.

"Sorry," she said hurriedly, "I'm trying to listen."

Harry was speaking again. "Well, I've been thinking about the sort of stuff we ought to do first and –er-" he paused, noticing that Hermione had raised her hand, "What, Hermione?"

"I think we ought to elect a leader," she said.

"Harry's leader," said a pretty Ravenclaw girl the three of them didn't recognize.

"Big surprise there," scoffed Albus.

"Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly," said Hermione, unperturbed, "It makes it formal and it gives him authority. So- everyone who thinks Harry ought to be our leader?"

Everyone put their hands up at once. "Another big surprise." said Albus. Rose stared at him reproachfully and he raised his hands innocently.

"Er- right, thanks," said Harry, who looked quite pink, "And- _what_, Hermione?"

"I also think we ought to have a name," she said brightly, her hand still in the air, "It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?"

"Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?" said Angelina hopefully.

"Or the Ministry of Magic Are Morons Group?" suggested Fred.

The three stowaways started to laugh silently. "I wish they had gone with that one." said Scorpius.

"…more of a name that didn't tell what we were up to, so we can refer to it safely outside meetings." Hermione was saying.

"The Defense Association?" said the pretty Ravenclaw, "The D.A. for short, so nobody knows what we're talking about?"

"I thought it stood for-" started Scorpius before Rose hushed him sharply.

"Yeah, the D.A.'s good," said Ginny, "only let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it?"

"Good on you, mum," said Albus, unaware that Ginny was the one who came up with the name in the first place.

"All in favor of the D.A.?" said Hermione, getting to her knees to count the hands. Albus and Scorpius also put theirs in the air as well while Rose rolled her eyes.

They continued to watch silently while Hermione tacked the list to the wall and wrote Dumbledore's Army across the top. Albus massaged his temples. "We're going to be here forever."

Rose waved her hand at him as Harry started talking again.

"I was thinking, the first thing we should do it _Expelliarmus, _you know, the Disarming Charm. I know it's pretty basic, but I've found it really useful-"

"Oh, _please_," a blond boy interrupted, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms, "I don't think _Expelliarmus _is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"

The three stowaways widened their eyes. They all knew the history of Harry and that particular charm, and what he's done with it.

"Who is that bloke?" said Scorpius, "He's a right git."

"I've used it on him," said Harry quietly, "It saved my life last June."

Everyone was silent.

"But if you think it's beneath you, you can leave," Harry said.

No one moved. Albus added, "I don't have a clue who he is, but he just got owned."

So then the whole group divided into pairs and began practicing the Disarming Charm. Right away it was obvious to Rose, Albus, and Scorpius that defensive spells were not properly taught. Soon, spare charms were going everywhere. The three of them had to duck and dive several times while the book shelves were hit and books started to go flying. It was strange that witches and wizards close to their own ages were so bad at defense. In their own Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons, they were outright dueling by fourth year. After the war, they really must have improved the curriculum.

Even after Harry started going around offering help Rose, Albus, and Scorpius were still in danger of being in the line of fire. And Albus had been right- they were hiding behind the bookcase for what felt like forever. It turned out to be more than an hour later by the time Hermione pointed out the time.

The hiding trio became hopeful as the D.A. discussed when their next meeting would be. People left in small droves then as to not arouse suspicion, leaving Harry, Ron, and Hermione left in the room.

"That was really, really good, Harry," said Hermione.

"Yeah, it was!" said Ron enthusiastically as they left the room. Before the door closed, the other three heard him say, "Did you see me disarm Hermione, Harry?" The corners of Rose's mouth turned up, watching them until the door closed and they were gone.

The room was now empty save for them. They waited for a few extra moments before emerging. Rose stood first, still grinning from her father's banter.

"That was torture." Albus complained as he walked out from behind the bookcase, trying to crack his back.

"It was a learning experience." said Rose.

"Well, it was a learning experience that's given me aching legs and a bruised tailbone." said Scorpius, stretching. Harry startHar

Albus plopped himself on a cushion and lay across it. He ended up being too tall, so his head and his legs ended up on the floor. "We can't keep doing that every time the D.A. meets."

"He's right," said Scorpius.

"Any ideas, then?" said Rose, putting her hands on her hips.

"Yeah," Scorpius retorted, "_Blend in_."

"That would never work!"

"Why don't we just tell them who we are?" said Albus tiredly.

Rose sat on a cushion. "Because they'd be distracted by us instead of paying attention to their problems with Voldemort, wouldn't they?" she said.

"Then what?" said Scorpius.

Rose shook her head, not answering. He rolled his eyes in exasperation while Albus just groaned and grabbed another cushion to put under his head.


End file.
